


aurum

by seothsayers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Established Relationship, Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: In the ruins of the castle, Donghyuck finds his crown.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	aurum

In the ruins of the castle, Donghyuck finds his crown.

The metal is bent at an awkward angle and the rubies embedded in it are either chipped or missing completely. There’s no way it could be worn now, not in the state it’s in. Donghyuck looks at it and his hit with an overwhelming wave of sorrow. The Lee family’s symbol of power, reduced to a piece of scrap metal. 

He doesn’t hear Taeil walk up beside him. It takes a hand on his shoulder for him to notice, and even then Donghyuck moves like he’s in a daze, clutching the remains of his family history in his fists.

“This is the last thing I expected to find.” Donghyuck says. For weeks now people had been looking through the ruins, in search of fabric or materials that might be salvageable. Donghyuck had given them free rein to take whatever they found – he knew there was gold and furs and precious gems that were tucked away safely in chests that had probably made it through the fire. There was no point in Donghyuck keeping them, not when there were others who needed the wealth more. 

He had half expected his crown to have been taken by someone, or for it to have been destroyed completely. Seeing it like this was a reminder of everything that they had lost. 

“May I?” Taeil asks. 

Donghyuck passes it to him. He watches as Taeil turns the crown over in his hands and studies it, fingers dancing across the gems. “What do you want to do with it?” Taeil asks. 

Donghyuck shrugs. “Not wear it, that’s for sure. It can be added to the rest of the gold that’s to be melted down. I have no use for it now.”

“Do you mind if I take it?” Taeil asks. 

“Go ahead.” Donghyuck says. He watches as Taeil tucks it away into the satchel over his shoulder. “What do you want it for?”

Taeil shrugs. “I’m not entirely sure yet,” He says, but the look in his eyes says otherwise. 

…

Rebuilding life after the destruction of an entire kingdom is a mammoth task. Donghyuck had known from the moment the dragon had been slaughtered that the damage was going to take years – decades even – to rectify it all. The castle was gone, razed to the ground in the first attack, and the capital city had been reduced to nothing but ash and rubble. The survivors were scared and anxious about what lay ahead, and Donghyuck was too. They were placing their trust in him to help them though – it was part of his duty as king. Donghyuck hoped that someday soon they could turn the ruins of their home into a place where they all could feel safe again. 

It wasn’t going to be easy, but slowly they were getting there. 

The houses were already beginning to take shape, and businesses were slowly starting to flourish. The castle and the debris surrounding it remains untouched for the most part, and Donghyuck is leaning towards leaving it that way. The kingdom his family once ruled is gone forever now. The mark of his ancestors stood no more and as the last heir of the Lee line, he knew it was time for things to change. 

…

Every day follows a pattern. Donghyuck wakes up, curled up against Johnny’s side and Taeil’s arm thrown over his waist. They eat and talk and dress and then they all head out for the day. Donghyuck sometimes thinks about what the courtiers would think of him if they could see him now. No doubt they’d ignore his efforts to help his people and focus on the fact he was now living in close quarters with the head of the Royal Guard and a blacksmith. They would have frowned and scolded him for his decision, but in reality it didn’t matter. None of it mattered anymore. They were all dead and Donghyuck wasn’t. He was free to make his own choices.

Donghyuck does what he can to help his people: assisting with elements construction by being taught the ways of the trade, overseeing plans for new plots with the New Council and volunteering to keep the children out from under their parents feet by reading to them or teaching them maths and history. The days are long and tiring, but it’s the same for everyone. Donghyuck has never felt both more fulfilled and more exhausted in his role as king. 

At the end of each day he heads home, to the small house by the graveyard of trees that had once made up the nearby forest. He cooks and he cleans and he waits for Johnny and Taeil to return. Aside from when there is a meeting, they rarely see each other during the day. The evenings are for them – eating a meal, drinking wine from the castle’s cellar which had survived the plight. Donghyuck goes to sleep each night surrounded by love and trust, something he could have never imagined happening when he was young. 

…

It all began with Taeil offering to replace Johnny’s broken sword. 

In all the years that Donghyuck had known Johnny, he’d never seen him as truly happy as he was when he was with Taeil. Donghyuck was happy for him – spending your life dedicated to the crown meant you had to sacrifice many things. They had known each other for almost a decade now. Johnny knew Donghyuck better than anyone else, and Donghyuck liked to think it was the same the other way round. To see your best friend in love is magical. There was no-one more deserving of comfort and peace than Johnny.

Donghyuck had tried to step away and give them space but it was impossible in their situation. In the early days, after the dragon was gone, Johnny refused to leave Donghyuck’s side. Johnny had followed Donghyuck around as though some new threat would spring out of the shadows when his back was turned. It had taken weeks of Donghyuck promising that he would be fine for Johnny to finally begin to snap out of it. Even then, Taeil didn’t help the situation. It never seemed to bother him that Donghyuck was always there, lingering on the edges of something that was supposed to be private between the two of them. 

Donghyuck felt lonely but he had felt lonely before all this, so it was nothing new. Living each day knowing he would have to marry for the stability of his kingdom and not for love had been so draining when he was younger. 

The jealousy and the guilt bubbled below the surface. 

It all boils to head one day when they get onto the topic of love and Taeil asks, “Why don’t you believe you’re worthy of it?”. Donghyuck doesn’t know what to say to that. There is a quiet tension as they continue to speak, then a gentle touch of two sets of hands on top of his own. Johnny reassuring him that the love he feels for Donghyuck isn’t out of duty, and Taeil reminding him that what it means to be king now is not the same as before. 

It’s hard not to feel undeserving sometimes. Donghyuck’s entire future had been rewritten and he was still getting to grips with how to proceed. Johnny and Taeil are constants through it all. 

Donghyuck is infinitely glad that even with the chaos of the world they’re in that the three of them have each other. 

…

“In a few years, when the kingdom begins to get back to normal, I’m going to abdicate the throne.”

The room seems to still. Both Johnny and Taeil pause, glancing at each other and then at Donghyuck. 

“I know it might take even longer than that, but I think it’s the right choice. It’s time for a new beginning for everyone here, including me.” Donghyuck continues. “By that point the council will be well-established and there will be no need for a king any longer.”

“You seem to have thought this through in depth,” Taeil says. 

“It’s all I think about when I’m not worrying about the rate we’re rebuilding or if we’ll have enough food to last us the winter.” Donghyuck says. “The monarchy ends with me. I’ve made my choice.”

Donghyuck’s not entirely sure how he expected them to react. It’s a decision he would ordinarily make with the Royal Council but they no longer exist, or Johnny, who knows everything about Donghyuck, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it until he had made his choice. 

“I think it’s the right one.” Taeil says. “You’re doing it for the right reasons. You’re an excellent leader to the people.”

Donghyuck looks over to Johnny. There are times when it’s impossible to read his face. His lips pressed into a firm line, a hint of a frown between his brows. Donghyuck waits. 

“I’ll support you whatever it is you decide,” Johnny says. 

“You don’t think I’m being young and reckless?” Donghyuck thinks back to all the times the royal advisors had shunned him when he had tried to participate in the politics of his own kingdom. “Be honest with me, please.”

“You’re an adult. The last three years have forced us all to mature quickly.” Johnny says. “Besides, you’ve never been reckless. I sat in on enough of those meetings to know that they were trying to pressure you into being someone you are not.”

Donghyuck breathes a sigh of relief as Johnny reaches out across the table to take his hand. 

“The council will probably want you to join them though.” Johnny says. “Even if you’re no longer king, you have diplomatic skills like no one else.”

“I can live with that,” Donghyuck says. 

“You should be proud of yourself.” Taeil says, placing his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “I’m sure it wasn’t an easy choice.”

“It wasn’t.” Donghyuck says. He sits back in his chair, reassured in himself. “But it was the right one.”

…

Winter brings with it heavy snow. Donghyuck is grateful that all the essential building work is done when the first flakes begin to fall from the sky, and talks with neighbouring countries have ensured they will have enough food to feed everyone until spring. 

The snow also brings a shift – Donghyuck isn’t sure if it’s the fact they’re progressing with reconstruction quicker than expected or maybe just the sight of the white blanket over the remaining debris that was a reminder of the past few years. The solstice was quickly approaching and the old year was coming to a close. There was a growing sense of happiness in the air and Donghyuck relishes in it. 

The morning of the solstice Donghyuck trudges through the snow with Johnny and Taeil on his heels to make a speech on a makeshift podium. He talks about having hope and being grateful for what they’re lucky to still have. The three of them linger for a while to talk to others – Taeil getting thanks for the gifts he had found time to craft amongst the other projects he was working on, Johnny laughing with the remaining members of the Royal Guard and Donghyuck improvising a story on the spot for the children who miss the weekly sessions he used to help with. 

When they are back home, warming up in front of the fire, Taeil sets two woven pouches down on the table in front of them. Donghyuck swears the fabric is from a set of old curtains in the castle – with the amount of time Taeil spent searching the grounds for metal to reuse, Donghyuck wouldn’t be surprised if he had managed to stumble across something of the sort. 

“I have a gift for you both,” Taeil says. “Happy solstice.”

Donghyuck pulls open the pouch and a gold ring falls into his palm. There are three small rubies set in the top of the band and as Donghyuck turns it over in his hand it clicks. 

“Did you make these from my crown?” He asks. 

Taeil grins. “I was wondering if you would remember,” He says. “It took me a while to get them perfect, so I thought I would save them to give to you both now.” He pulls a gold chain out from under his shirt to show a third ring, dangling like a pendant. “You don’t have to wear it as a ring if you don’t want to. I have some spare chains if you would like to wear it around your neck.”

Donghyuck feels everything at once. Overwhelmed, touched and loved. He slips the ring onto his index finger on his right hand. It sits pretty next to the ring of his grandfather that had been gifted to Donghyuck when he had become king. 

“They are a promise.” Taeil says. “Or a reminder. Something to help keep you going, I suppose.” 

Johnny’s on his feet, sweeping Taeil into a hug before Donghyuck can even blink. Donghyuck sits and stares at the ring until Taeil calls his name gently. 

Donghyuck stands and joins them both. Johnny wraps an arm around him and pulls him close until both Donghyuck and Taeil’s heads are pressed into Johnny’s chest. “Thank you,” Donghyuck says when Johnny relaxes his grip. Donghyuck doesn't ever think he will be able to convey how lost he would be if he was alone without the two of them by his side. He lifts a hand to the back of each of their heads and brings their foreheads to his own, one by one. “Thank you for everything.”

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/seothsayers)


End file.
